Oct. 29, 2009

Box Score

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - In its regular-season finale, the Samford University soccer team used a trio of first-half goals to spark the Bulldogs to a 3-1 road victory against the Chattanooga Lady Mocs at the North River Complex. Samford's Cindy Spiker, Paige Lanter and Lauren Cook all scored goals in Thursday's win.

With the victory, Samford (12-1-4, 7-1-3 Southern Conference) secured a berth in the 2009 SoCon Tournament and earned a second-place finish in the final conference standings. The Bulldogs will begin play in the prestigious four-team competition against College of Charleston on Nov. 6.

The 2009 SoCon Tournament will be held at the UNCG Soccer Complex in Greensboro, N.C.

Samford concluded its 2009 regular season with its best record in school history. The Bulldogs have only been defeated once this year and are in the midst of a nine-match undefeated streak. Samford's last loss was a hard-fought 1-0 setback at the College of Charleston on Sept. 27.

With Thursday's defeat, Chattanooga (7-8-1, 2-8-1 SoCon) completed its 2009 campaign as the 11th-place team in the conference. The Lady Mocs dropped their third-consecutive match against Samford and fell to a 1-4 all-time record versus the Bulldogs.

Senior Cindy Spiker helped Samford to an early 1-0 lead Thursday as she tallied her first goal of the season in the 23rd minute of play. Sophomore Lauren Cook assisted on Spiker's first-half score.

Chattanooga bounced right back to even the score at 1-1 in the 28th minute of the opening period. The Lady Mocs' lone goal of the match was scored by Arielle Lankford at exactly 27:40. The goal was Lankford's first of the 2009 campaign and occurred after a saved shot attempt from Lauren Wilson, which deflected off of Samford's goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead.

The assist was Wilson's first of the season.

After the Lady Mocs tied the score at 1-1, Samford tallied its second goal of the match less than two minutes later. At 29:24, the Bulldogs' Paige Lanter notched her second goal of the season to give her team a decisive 2-1 advantage in the match. On the game-winning score, Lanter gathered the ball after a corner kick and rifled a shot into the far corner of the net. Junior Leah Leppert assisted on the goal.

Leppert also assisted on Samford's third goal of the first half. During the 38th minute of play, sophomore Lauren Cook scored the 10th goal of her young career to increase the Bulldogs' lead to 3-1. Leppert, who registered two assists Thursday, upped her total on the season to five.

The Samford University soccer team will next be in action on Nov. 6 as the Bulldogs begin play in the 2009 SoCon Tournament against the second-seeded College of Charleston Cougars. The prestigious four-team competition will be held at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C.